Bloomberg News reported on the ongoing tension in and around Jerusalem marked by two terror attacks yesterday involving cars driving into pedestrians.

Palestinian rage has erupted after Israel temporarily closed the Temple Mount, a sacred site to both Jews and Muslims, in response to Arab youths throwing stones at visitors. …

Clashes broke out again there yesterday, as Palestinians hurled stones and Israeli police briefly shut down access to the hilltop site, that’s home to Islam’s third holiest site, the al-Aqsa Mosque. Last week, similar restrictions were imposed and a Palestinian shot and injured a leading advocate for Jewish rights to pray on the Temple Mount, Judaism’s holiest site.

Bloomberg subsequently quotes an expert who pointed out the role incitement plays in the violence and as well as the goal of incitement.

“Hamas wants to turn Jerusalem into a regional issue through an intifada or something close to this, to bring the Palestinian issue back into the heart of the regional agenda,” said Uzi Rabi, director of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Tel Aviv University. “Al-Aqsa is a huge propaganda tool.”

There is a long history “of Arab and Muslim leaders claiming that Jews are seeking to desecrate and destroy what they refer to as the Noble Sanctuary.”

In addition to Hamas, members of Palestinian Authority Leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah faction, and Abbas himself, have been using increasingly inflammatory rhetoric. In a recent speech, Abbas called on Palestinians to use “any means necessary” to stop Jews, who he called “settlers, from accessing the Temple Mount

Abbas’ incitement and praise for terrorists have prompted criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but mostly silence from the U.S. administration.

[Photo: Twitter via @Shimritmeir ]